Victim Injured In Nipsey Hussle Shooting Expected To Be Released From Jail

By Lauren CrawfordApr 18, 2019

Kerry Lathan will soon be a free man... again.

The 56-year-old shooting victim, who was shot in the back when Nipsey Hussle was killed outside The Marathon clothing store, will soon be released from jail, TMZ reports.

As previously reported, Kerry was taken into custody just days after the March 31 shooting for hanging with Nipsey, who police allege was a member of the Rollin 60’s Crips. Authorities claimed Kerry, who was out on parole after serving a 24-year sentence for murder, was not supposed to be mingling with known gang members under a limitation of his parole. Despite sustaining injuries from the shooting that left him unable to walk and in a wheelchair indefinitely, he was taken into custody just days after being discharged from the hospital.

However, on Thursday (April 18), a rep for L.A. Superior Court told TMZ the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation withdrew its petition to revoke his parole, meaning Kerry will be released very soon. While officials did not reveal their reason for releasing Kerry, the move is not surprising given how revered Nipsey was in the South Los Angeles community.

Kerryis one of the two surviving victims in the shooting that took the rapper and activist's life. He recently opened up about what he remembers from that tragic day in an interview with VladTV, taken while he was behind bars.

Kerry first clarified the rumor that he and Nipsey were close friends. Following the incident, multiple outlets claimed Nipsey was at his Marathon Clothing store on March 31 because he was helping Kerry get new clothes "so he could look good before meeting up with his own family and friends later in the day." However, Kerry said Nipsey's good deed happened way before the shooting as he was released from prison in 2018.

"Nipsey heard that I was home and filled up my little sister’s backseat of her car with clothing for me … I was out seven months before [the shooting] happened," he explained. "[Nipsey] might’ve gave me a couple pictures … When I got out, I took a selfie with him ... He’s a celebrity. Everybody’s taking selfies, let me take one. That’s on my phone in front of The Marathon Store."

Kerry then recalled how he ended up by Nipsey's side outside The Marathon clothing store the day of the shooting. "When I [went inside Nipsey's store], they didn’t have the white [shirts] that I wanted," the 56-year-old detailed. "I said, 'When y'all gon' get that in again?' [And an employee] said, 'Well, there go Nipsey in the lot. Go talk to him.' And I talked to him. He said, 'That’ll be about a week, bro.' I said, 'OK.' And when I said it, it was all bad."

"The gunman [suspect Eric Holder] turned around the car and shot me, then shot Nipsey, and then shot my nephew. I didn’t know what was going on … I fell on my stomach," Kerry recalled. "All I could see was people’s feet. I couldn't see nothing else. I said so they got it wrong if they talking about me being an eyewitness. What was I supposed to do? When I see a gun, I turn around and run. I don’t stop and take a selfie of the gunman … It all happened in less than three minutes."

"I got hit close to the spine," Kerry continued. "And they said it chipped a part of my pelvis. So, it’s very difficult for me to walk … I’m in a wheelchair as we speak."